Wednesday, August 24 (7:30 PM) thru Saturday, August 27 (9 PM)
Headquartered in Cranberry Township, PA
Led by Douglas Cubbison, Walter Powell, and Bruce Venter
Registration Fee: $775.00 (double occupancy) – $795.00 (single occupancy)
An often overlooked event of the colonial period is Pontiac’s Rebellion in 1763. Faced with English settlers streaming across the Appalachian Mountains following the French and Indian War, various tribes, loosely led by the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, rose up to save their native lands. Bloodshed was rampant on the Ohio and Pennsylvania frontiers as British outposts fell like dominos. Likewise, Great Britain’s coffers were drained as the cost of troops, sent to quell the rebellion, added to an already staggering national debt from the last war with France. One of Britain’s solutions, the Proclamation of 1763 was a vain attempt to keep colonists east of the mountains; it failed and quickly became one of several causes of the American Revolution. Our historians will discuss the entire scope of Pontiac’s Rebellion, including incidents and battles we will not see on this tour.
On our first day we will visit the reconstructed Fort Ligonier. The original fort was built in 1758 by Maj. Gen James Forbes during his campaign to capture Fort Duquesne (later renamed Fort Pitt.) Fort Ligonier was the jump off site for Col. Henry Bouquet’s expedition to relieve Fort Pitt during Pontiac’s Rebellion. The reconstructed site is an extraordinary example of 18th century fortifications. Its museum displays a set of pistols owned by Lafayette and given to George Washington. Our lead historian, Doug Cubbison, a former artillery officer will provide an in-depth explanation of the fort’s magnificent reproduction of a British artillery train. After lunch at a historic restaurant in Ligonier, we will visit the Bushy Run Battlefield for an extensive walking tour of Bouquet’s Highlanders’ great victory over some 400 Delaware, Mingo, Shawnee and Huron tribesmen. The 200+ acre battlefield sits pristinely against a rural landscape. [Read more…]